santa cruz

One sunny Sunday afternoon after my first shopping excursion to Ikea (I'm now officially in love with Ikea), we decided to swing down to Santa Cruz on our way home. A random hula hooping gathering was taking place at the historic lighthouse, which houses the surfing museum, and I couldn't resist joining in the fun.
Just below the lighthouse, a surfing competition was in progress. Many young kids were competing, which made it so much fun to watch. Santa Cruz is an especially good place both to surf and watch the action, as there are nice waves that break below overlooking cliffs.
Santa Cruz is actually just across the bay from Monterey and not too far of a drive, so I'm really excited to do some more exploring in this hipster surf town.

san francisco

After arriving back in California we decided to spend a few days exploring San Francisco. What a great city! A few days earlier we had been making our way through the dense maze of NYC streets and subway system and now we were exploring a very different urban environment with a very different mood. San Francisco struck me as a much more livable, open, and friendly place. If I imagine myself living in a city, this would be the one.

andrew wyeth

christina's world

r.i.p. andrew wyeth

christmas in new york

Wow. I am finally back "home" in California and beginning to get settled into my new life here. And finally I have time to reflect upon and post about these crazy past few weeks.
The last time I posted I was in New York with Trevor's family celebrating Christmas... and what a great Christmas it was. All I can say is that I must have been a very good girl this year.


Whenever we visit New York we try to make at least one trip into the city. A few days after Christmas we decided to take advantage of some mild weather and took the train from Westchester County into Manhattan. Our first stop was the Guggenheim Museum, which is known for its unique curving architecture. It is a beautiful building filled with many beautiful works, but be forewarned that the art tends to be quite modern and may not suit all tastes.

And no trip into the city during the holiday season would be complete without visiting at least a few festively adorned store windows. My favorites were the windows at Bergdorf & Goodman (shown below), which tend to be artistic and extremely detailed.
And the very next day after our trip into the city, we boarded a plane and again flew from one side of the country to the other...

As we chased the sun westward and passed over the vast land that is our nation, I pondered what it must be like to live in the various regions below. Each little cluster of lights glinting up at me, however small or large, isolated or connected, was home to somebody. And once again I considered why people live where they do... as I did when we drove across the country a few weeks prior. Seeing where and how others live helps to put your own journey into perspective. And it helps you to realize that home is relative and transferable.